EHAMPHASTOS.— PTEEOGLOSSUS. 555 



of South America, from Peru northwards through Ecuador and Colombia. It thence 

 passes into the Isthmus of Central America, and is found as far north as the eastern 

 parts of Nicaragua up to the Segovia river, where Mr. Townsend met with it. 



Mr. Nutting says ^^ that JR. tocard is common at Los Sabalos, in Nicaragua, nesting 

 in trunks of trees. Its note is a loud clear whistle, followed by two or more softer 

 and lower ones. Mr. Richmond ^^ also found it to be common on the Escondido river, 

 where, however, it is seldom seen during the summer months, but from October or 

 November on through the winter birds are seen daily, sometimes in large flocks, and 

 often come out into the plantations. He describes their note as a curious croaking 

 noise made when several birds are assembled in some solitary tree or retired place. 

 When disturbed they fly silently away. 



The colouring of the bill and naked space round the eye in Gould's plate * was taken 

 from a specimen and notes supplied him by Bourcier, formerly French Consul at 

 Quito. Mr. Nutting describes the former as having the maxilla above a line drawn 

 from the base of the culmen to the lower edge, to a point on the tomia one-fifth of its 

 length from the tip, as " corn-yellow," the remaining parts black ; mandible very dark 

 maroon ; iris green ; feet bronze-blue. The colour of the bill alters entirely in the 

 dried skin, but the base of the maxilla in some specimens distinctly shows the remains 

 of a maroon colour like that of the mandible. 



PTEROGLOSSUS. 



Pterofflossus, Illiger, Prodr. p. 202 (1811) ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 137. 



Of the eighteen recognized species of Pteroglossus only three occur within our 

 limits, all belonging to the same section in which the breast is banded, the sexes alike, 

 and there is a large black pectoral spot. P. erythropygius is the only other species of 

 this section, a southern form from which P. sanguineus hardly differs. 



P. torquatus has the base of the culmen very flat between the nostrils, and the 

 posterior margin of the sheath of the maxilla instead of being nearly straight across as 

 in Ehamphastos is undulating, a deep notch running forwards on each side so as to 

 include the open nostril. Pteroglossus is the least homogeneous of the Toucans, as in 

 some of the species there is a sexual difference of plumage, and P. leauharnasi with 

 its curiously curled crown-feathers is a very remarkable bird. All belong to the 

 hot low-lying regions, and the metropolis of the genus is probably the valley of the 

 Upper Amazons. 



1. Pteroglossus torquatus. 



Rhamphastos torquatus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 354 \ 



Pteroglossus torquatus, Wagl. Isis, 1829, p. 508 ' ; Gould, Men. Rhamph. ed. 2, t. 20 ' ; Scl. P. Z. S. 

 1857 p. 205"; 1858, p. 359'; 1859, p. 388°; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 141"; Moore, 

 P z's 1859, p. 59 ^ Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 135 ^ P. Z. S. 1864, p. 366'°; 1870, 



70* 



